Childhood Memories . . .

I'm blessed to have wonderful childhood memories, and the painting above is one of them.

The Johnson's lived next door to us when I was very young and had this painting hanging in their living room. At an early age (under 6), I remember sitting on their couch, looking at this portrayal of life for what seemed like hours.

The bridge was so scary and seemed to be preparing to fall at any minute. The missing plank was the scariest of all. I could just see a little foot slipping into the opening, followed by a sure certain death on the rocks below.

The care and compassion of the big sister touched my heart. It seemed that she was more concerned about the welfare of her little brother than herself. Even though her face was obscured from my vision, I could see love in her arms.

Looming over both of the children, who were oblivious to her presence, was the guardian angel, waiting for the moment of need. She never left their presence.

There are many life applications in the piece of art and I'd love to know what was going on in the life of the artist when he painted it. What was his inspiration?

One morning, our neighbor's daughter came running to our front door hysterically crying. She told my mom that she could not get her mother to wake up. Could she come and check on her. Mom quickly went next door only to find that Mrs. Johnson had died sometime during the night.

I remember that morning and hope that the same angel in the painting was there for the Johnson's daughter as it was for the two children in the painting.